The first known analysis of a substantial number of arbitration awards in higher education is presented in an effort to determine whether arbitrators have confined their awards within the contract limitations. All of the arbitration awards generated by the four-year colleges of the State University of New York as well as the awards of the Pennsylvania state colleges were reviewed. Twelve two-year SUNY colleges also responded to a letter requesting arbitration decisions, and additional cases were found in back issues of "Arbitration in the Schools." Less than half of the awards surveyed involved academic judgment issues. The majority concerned traditional contract interpretation questions such as the length of contract-mandated paid vacations, eligibility for pension benefits, and the necessity of paying for overtime work. Cases where academic consequences grew out of basically non-academic grievances are reported briefly. It is shown that the very presence of arbitration has had direct impact on academic decisions, some of which has been beneficial. Tenure and promotion decisions have been affected by the introduction of due process elements into academic personnel decisions. If the traditional system of faculty participation in decision making is to be maintained, steps must be taken to establish appropriate boundaries between academic officials' and arbitrators' authority. (LBH)